UMC downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded UMC (UMC) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of NT$52, down from NT$60. The firm sees potential wafer pricing pressure from both TSMC and China’s competition. The analyst does not see any improvement, saying the exiting Q2 semi inventory days were still high. The artificial intelligence PC and AI smartphone replacement cycle Morgan Stanley expected did not take place in the second half of 2024, the analyst tells investors in a research note.